Kevin Martin and his rink had a press conference at the Derrick Golf and Winter Club prior to their departure for the Brier in London, Ontario in Edmonton on March 2, 2011.Brian J. Gavriloff Brian Gavrilo
/ Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - With Monday’s launch of the Kevin Martin Curling App, the 46-year-old former Canadian, world and Olympic curling champion entered a whole new world.

“There are very few athletes in the world who have an app,” Martin said Monday from Toronto. “Maybe five total.”

Curlers of all levels connected to the new technology will now have access to information about drills and skills, strategy and equipment, worldwide curling news and links to various curling websites.

“The most exciting part is the ‘Contact Kevin’ part,” Martin said. “You go on your phone or your tablet and you’re upstairs in the bar having a cocktail after your game and decide ‘I want to get a hold of Kevin.’ You push the button, agree to the price — $11.99 to get a hold of me.

“It’s very cool,” he continued. “Imagine if you’re at a golf course and you had an option to talk to Fred Couples. I would get a hold of Fred in a second. ‘Oh, Fred, I’m having trouble with my putting ... .’

“It’s all brand new. Nobody’s ever done it before. It’s really fun.”

Martin said he will personally respond to every request, which he receives immediately after the query is sent. While the app costs only $1.99, the cost of the Contact Kevin service could change.

“The market will tell. If I get 1,000 a day, obviously, I’ve got to put the price up because that’s crazy. But if after three days we get nobody, then obviously we’re charging too much.

“I’d like to have 10 or 20 a day. Whatever price. Right now, it’s $11.99. Nobody’s ever done that, so we just pulled that number right out of the air.

“I don’t want to have one (response) a week because that’s not enough,” he said. “I’d like to talk to people from all over the world. I think it will be very attractive to people in Brazil and China, Japan, Korea, Europe asking questions about curling because they don’t have many instructors there.”

The curling app came about because Martin had been mulling over the idea of putting together a new teaching video.

“The last good teaching video in curling, we did it in about the mid-1990s on VHS,” he said. “There hasn’t been another one since.

“For the last five to seven years, I’ve been bugged a lot by clubs and associations to put out another video. But nobody does videos anymore.”

When Lorraine Quartaro, Martin’s longtime publicist, recently helped a client get an app for chefs, this idea was hatched. The project received the green light about a year ago.

“It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been a lot of fun, too, and I’ve learned a ton about filming and editing and voice-over and the app world,” Martin said. “Don Metz of Aquila did all the filming on HD camera, Gord Redel did all the producing with sound and lighting people. It was all a high-quality produced show.”

Included with the basic price of the app are:

“I did a segment on pre-game stretching because not enough people do that,” Martin said. “It’s a complete 15-minute what to stretch, how to stretch, so you’re ready for the game.”

“A major complaint I get from people all the time is where are they playing and what kind of event is it? Is it on the CCA website, is it on the (World Curling) Tour website, is it on the world curling federation website? Where can I find this curling game? Because there’s all the different websites. With the app, we have it all. You go on the app, you can find the linescores from any event — Tour, Slams, CCA or world curling federation.”

“Another real cool one is following Team Martin’s quest for Socchi (the 2014 Olympics). What’s on that part of the app is our schedule and then every event we’re in. You get a curling event or, like (Sunday) night, I was teaching a group here in Toronto, (Tuesday) in Edmonton I’m teaching the Danish women’s team. They’re coming to Edmonton to work with me.”

Martin also does what he calls “a walk down the curling product aisle.” He talks about all of the curling manufacturers and products and discusses the pros and cons, including how they’re made and wear. “Therefore, when the curler goes to do some shopping, they have product knowledge when they walk in a store.”

Martin said he already has people asking about how to make a draw for a bonspiel or for ice-making tips “so that $1.99 section can really expand.”

There are extra costs involved with the various teaching components and the workouts Martin’s longtime personal trainer, Mike Ljevaja, helped developed for the app.

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